Leah's appetite would have made Quil proud that morning. Renee was in awe and Phil appeared impressed as she was the only one to finish her over-stacked plate and then ate Bella's leftovers. She muttered something about 'starving this morning' and laughed before shoveling in another bite of scrambled eggs.
Renee kept her busy talking between bites, asking questions about people from La Push she hadn't seen in years. Leah told Renee what things she knew and even discussed Harry for a while. It surprised Bella when Leah told Renee about her dreams of Harry while he was on life support. Renee reached for Leah's hand and held it in sympathy, but Leah seemed… fine. She wasn't as reluctant to tell Renee as she had been to tell Bella, and Renee accepted Leah's dreams and their importance as easily as Bella had.
Leah gradually became happier throughout the morning, much more so than Bella had ever seen her. Bella sat, besotted and silent, happily observing Renee and Leah acting like lifelong friends. Bella's input was rarely necessary, though Phil tried to include her with side glances and facial expressions. Frankly, he couldn't get a word in edge-wise, either.
Eventually, Bella turned in her seat to see them both better, grinning as she put her calves on Leah's knees under the table. Leah just laughed, wrapped her free hand around Bella's legs to keep them in place, and continued eating with her other hand. Renee grinned, glancing at Phil as he reached over to pat her hand. They remained that way, still chatting, long after everyone finished eating.
Bella and Leah offered to wash the dishes, but Phil shooed the guests away. Renee suggested taking them to her favorite boutique, letting their bellies settle before everyone headed onto the beach. Renee's enthusiasm was catching, and soon the three hurried to change clothes and get ready.
When Bella stepped outside to meet Renee on the front porch, she found Phil sitting on the swing with a cup of coffee. He instinctively turned toward Bella grinning… then glanced at her skirt. Renee immediately fixated on Bella's blood-red lipstick. It thrilled her to see Bella in the boots she'd sent. Meanwhile, Phil side-eyed her short skirt and coughed as his ears and face reddened. It reminded Bella of Charlie and she would have laughed were it not so awkward.
Leah joined them a moment later, making Phil nearly choke on his coffee as she walked past him in tiny denim shorts and one of her new cropped t-shirts. Bella couldn't help but laugh, knowing precisely how said shorts looked on Leah's beautiful ass.
Phil's mortified gaze met Bella's, and he shook his head before muttering something she couldn't make out over Renee loudly complimenting Leah's dark purple lipstick. As Renee rambled about Leah's amazing skin tone and perfect teeth, Bella went to the back of the SUV to grab cash.
Bella lifted the lid to the cooler and did a double-take, disbelieving her eyes. Her open cash box still lay in the cooler, empty, with the key resting in the lock. She had attached those keys to the metal keyring to the rental car. She did so specifically so she wouldn't lose it. The theft left her shocked and silent, for what felt like a long time before screaming for Leah. Her heart raced as her skin flushed with anger. She yelled for Leah again before realizing Leah was already beside her with Renee on her heels.
Confused by Bella's sudden fury, Leah reached for her. "Bells? What's wrong?"
"Look…" Bella pointed into the cooler.
Leah leaned to peer inside and gasped. Her hand on Bella's waist was trembling. "Bella, please tell me you're playing a fucked up joke."
Worried, Renee asked, "What's wrong?"
"Our money…" Bella said, still shaken as she sat on the bumper. "All the cash for our trip. It's gone."
Appalled, Renee's mouth fell open as she glanced toward the cooler. "How terrible!"
Leah asked, "When was the last time you were in there, Bells?"
"Before the concert." Bella sighed. "I don't understand… We always lock the car. It has an alarm. The only people who knew about it were…"
"Those motherfuckers," Leah interrupted, instantly livid. "Breakfast run my ass. Donuts and coffee you probably fucking paid for…"
Of course. Bella's eyes widened as she realized Leah was talking about Declan and Kai. They had seen her move the box into the cooler, and she'd been unable to shake the suspicious feeling she had about them ever since. "It had to be them…"
"It makes complete sense," Leah huffed. "They snuck out while we were asleep and somehow returned the keys without us noticing."
Bell nodded absently as she visualized the most likely scenario, trying to remember exactly how things went when they'd returned. She said, "Kai put the coffee on the side table where I'd sat my purse and the keys. He must have returned the keys at the same time. Fuck!"
"Guess that explains why neither tried to push things any farther," Leah grumbled. "They were still fucking us, just not in a good way. Man! After all the nice shit you did for those bastards, too…"
Bella blushed as she met Renee's wide-eyed expression from behind Leah's shoulder as she absorbed the comments with no context. "Um, Mom? You okay?"
Renee frowned. "I'm just… surprised, honey. Are you okay? Will you even be able to afford to get home now, or did these friends of yours take everything?"
Bella snorted, feeling her shock finally giving way to anger. "I can afford to get us home. However, not all of that was mine. Leah hid a few hundred from her last paycheck in there, too. I still have plenty on my debit card, I just can't guarantee I can use it everywhere."
She stood up and kicked the gravel drive with the toe of her boot. "There was over four grand in there, Mom."
Renee gasped and Leah said, "I didn't realize how much you brought with you. I don't think you ever said…" Leah looked dumbfounded, and Bella understood. It was a lot of money.
"I didn't want you to worry about how much was in there, or how much we might spend on the trip. About half only got brought in case of an emergency." Bella wasn't a stranger to emergency rooms.
"We should probably check for anything else that might be missing." Bella sighed and attempted to calm herself, but her anger brought her to tears.
As Bella moved other items around, Renee said, "Don't touch that box, baby. Leave it right where it is."
Bella looked over as she shifted the cooler out of the way to check the camping gear.
Renee said, "Fingerprints, honey. Your dad's a cop. A theft that large is a felony. If caught, these guys might go to prison. Wait until you get home and report the money missing then. Let Charlie confiscate the box. Maybe they'll match some fingerprints. If these guys befriended you both to steal from you, chances are they're stealing from others too."
A hint of a smile finally returned to Leah's face as she nodded, but Bella noted how Leah's whole body now trembled with anger. "That's a brilliant plan, Renee."
Renee waved her arms around as if physically fanning away the tension between them and said, "Okay, girls. You have a plan. Let's not let this ruin everything."
Bella nodded. Renee was right. She had plenty in the bank (and growing) and already knew her debit card was safely in her purse. There was still some cash left from the concert. "She's right, Lee. This changes nothing. If someplace won't accept an out-of-state card, I'll just have to find an ATM. We have google maps for that shit too. It'll be fine."
"See?" Renee teased, "I'm not completely woo-woo."
That made Leah laugh and some of her tension faded. "If we can't use the cooler, we can't get food for the rest of the trip."
"That's okay," Bella nodded. "We can drive straight home… we'll have to stay overnight somewhere, and we can find a hotel room. I'm sure the sooner we hand this shit over to Charlie, the better. Maybe we can go camping with Quil and Embry for a few nights since it'll cut our trip short."
Leah snorted. "Drunk camping?"
"Hell yes," Bella nodded, forgetting she was underage and standing beside a laughing Renee.
"You are your father's daughter, baby," Renee said before turning to blow a goodbye kiss to Phil. "Come on, girls. Let's go."
Bella closed up the SUV and locked it before climbing into the backseat of Renee's car, motioning for Leah to sit up front. "Your legs are longer."
"Is your mom a scary driver?"
"Maybe."
"Bitch."
Bella laughed as Leah climbed in and pulled her seatbelt on.
Renee took them to several boutiques and shops close together along one of the older sections of town. They didn't stay at any very long but bought a few things. A local ice cream parlor advertised blueberry cheesecake frozen yogurt cones (Leah needed no convincing) and they sat at a little metal bench outside eating, people-watching.
Once upon a time, Bella had loved people-watching, favoring couples before she learned the pain of heartbreak. Several diverse couples were among the crowds that passed now, many openly affectionate and free. No one teased or asked questions about their relationships, they simply minded their own business and went on their way. It was like culture shock after spending nearly two years in Forks, where people can't even carpool without innuendos being made and everyone knew her business. It felt more akin to the variety of people they'd seen at the concert, containing every extreme and in-between, each simply living for the moment. Bella may not have experienced the 'publicly recognized couple' feeling for long, but she missed it. She missed having someone proud to say she was theirs.
Bella absently swung her feet, tuning out Renee's rambling, keeping the pinky of her left hand curled tightly around Leah's right pinky the whole time. Leah and Bella had constantly touched or fixated on each other all morning. They were in a bubble of tranquility, untouchable, and inseverable. It was a peaceful, easy feeling. Perhaps even better than the one she missed.
Pulling her attention, Renee said, "You seem happy today, Bella. Maybe Florida's good for you."
Bella snorted. She was happy to spend time with Renee and the heat and sunshine felt amazing on her skin, but it hadn't even been a full day.
Leah's good mood, Leah's happiness had buoyed Bella's mood from the moment she'd entered the kitchen that morning. Despite the theft issue and betrayal they each felt over Declan and Kai, Bella was more light-hearted and content today than she had felt in over a year.
She could not help but contemplate how odd it was that one's mood always seemed to alter the other's. It was always that way with them. From the beginning, Leah's emotions and presence had influenced Bella. Everything about her affected Bella in some fashion, whether emotionally, mentally, or physically. Even while swept up in Paul, Leah's presence had been an anchor - a homing beacon, making Bella feel safe. Leah's needs became a priority, and Bella was happy to meet them where she could. Bella knew there was nothing in the world she wouldn't do if Leah asked as long as it made Leah happy.
Bella turned to stare as Leah laughed at something Renee said. Her smile lit up Bella's world. Not gently or momentarily blinding like the sunrise, as Jacob's smile once did. Leah's smile was like a wildfire on the horizon, burning away the darkness of Bella's mind and warming the cavity in her chest. And while there was still a Jacob-sized hole in that cavity, Leah had moved in with her fiery presence, replacing it with affection, heat, encouragement, and purpose. Leah made Bella feel alive.
The best part about their relationship was that it wasn't one-sided. Each openly required the other's presence and strength. Each equally took care of the other, protected and calmed the other. When one got offended, the other got pissed. Neither could cry without both eventually sobbing together. Bella had never had a friendship with such an intense dynamic - not even with Jacob.
From what Bella understood, their connection was also a novel experience for Leah. Leah treated Bella differently than she treated… well, everyone. She was always loving toward her, never lashing out at Bella, never keeping her out. Leah made Bella feel stronger, needed, and brave. Leah always knew how to calm Bella's fears and Bella could calm Leah's temper. They balanced each other, their friendship as easy as breathing.
Renee burst Bella's bubble of tranquility, interrupting her pondering about Leah when she said, "I'm glad to see you so happy, Bella. Charlie and I talk, you know? It might not have seemed like it while you were growing up, Bella, but Charlie has always been my best friend. I probably know more about the last year than you realize."
Bella blushed from embarrassment, wondering what Renee knew, exactly. She had withheld so much from Renee, assuming she was too self-involved or flaky to grasp the severity of Bella's depression, the intensity of Bella's love for first one boy, then another, who abandoned her.
Bella sighed and nodded. "I told Quil I was a terrible daughter and don't talk to you enough."
"You're not terrible, Bella, but you have been through a great deal. First, there was Edward, then the accident, and the breakup…"
"Wait," Leah asked. "What accident? And Renee, you said something last night about a hotel window but I was too tired to ask."
Bella shook her head. I so do not want to have this conversation… Damn it, I knew we should have brought Quil and Embry.
Noticing Bella's tension, Renee said, "Bella came home to our house in Phoenix last year after she and Edward had a big fight. He and his father followed, to convince her to return to Forks or something. Right, Bella?"
Bella nodded, ignoring the suspicious frown on Leah's face. "Right."
Wrong, but Renee could never know about it. "And I wound up in the hospital after making a mistake and getting myself injured. I'd rather not get into the gory details."
Literally. Fucking blood everywhere… The memory of James's teeth in her wrist made her shake her hand loose from Leah's and rub the inside of her wrist on her knee as she shivered. The rest of Bella's frozen yogurt cone splattered on the ground as she broke out in a cold sweat and her vision blurred.
"Shit. Bella!" Leah threw her arm around Bella's shoulders to keep her from falling over.
As Leah's face moved back into focus, Bella saw Renee crouch down to clean up the dropped ice cream before turning worried eyes on Bella. "Bella, are you okay?"
Bella groaned as she realized she was slouching into Leah's side. Leah looked worried, too. "Sorry, guys. I'm okay. I just need a minute."
Leah asked, "Another panic attack?" Leah turned to Renee. "Bells kinda... faints sometimes? I've only seen it happen once before."
Renee asked, "Bella, are you sure you're okay? You're white as a sheet, baby. When did this fainting business start?"
Bella sat upright and rubbed her temples. "I think so, yes. Mom, I don't… I was seriously injured. It took a long time to heal physically and I never really dealt with it emotionally. I don't talk about it. When I think about it, it takes me right back there, and I can feel it all over again. Can we not talk about this anymore?"
"That's okay," Leah said, rubbing Bella's back soothingly. She leaned down to kiss Bella's temple and hugged her tighter.
Bella forced herself to smile for Leah as she stared up at her affectionately, grateful she didn't push for more information. Renee was frowning at Bella suspiciously but didn't vocalize her thoughts for once.
After giving Bella a minute to get her bearings, they went to the car and drove home to Renee and Phil's.
